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March babes!

Posted by Fiona Brampton on March 1, 2017 in Birthstones | No Comments

“A March born shall always be
Soothed by Aqua, gem of sea
This mermaid’s treasured stone you wear
Will bring happiness, love, affection and care.”

How lovely to be able to claim the aquamarine as your modern day birthstone! Such a beautiful crystal – a member of the Beryl family – signifying courage, faithfulness and friendship, and healing properties related to throat problems and stress-related illnesses.

A pale transparent blue is the traditional colour associated with an aquamarine, but it can be found in shades of blue that are almost sea-green – and a vivid sky-blue stone is always much admired. These richer shades are always valued more due to their rarity. It is the traces of iron in the crystal which account for the different colours – and interesting to note that yellow beryl stones can be heated to change them to blue aquamarines – cheating a bit I feel!

This beautiful and peaceful stone has long been a popular choice for jewellery – and it’s nice to know that the symbolic meaning of the colour blue has a biblical meaning representing heavenly grace.

For those interested in ancient birthstones, the bloodstone was the ancient birthstone for March, which is a form of the abundant mineral quartz. This is a cryptocrystalline quartz, actually a cluster of tiny quartz crystals which formed together in large lumps so that the external appearance does not appear to show a crystal form. This quartz variety is also called chalcedony – and green chalcedony spotted with flecks of red is known as bloodstone.

Bloodstone was traditionally a favoured material for carving religious statues – particularly representing the cruxifiction. In the Middle Ages, bloodstone was believed to hold healing powers, particularly for stopping nosebleeds. It could also be powdered and mixed with honey and egg white which was used to cure tumors and stop all types of hemorrhage – although I don’t feel I can guarantee this as a cure! Ancient alchemists used bloodstone to treat blood disorders, including blood poisoning and the flow of blood from a wound, and it was also believed to draw out the venom of snakes. As you may imagine, our range of jewellery featuring bloodstones is limited, to say the least – but I am going to show you a couple of beautiful things, just in case you want to move away from the aquamarine as a gift for your March birthday!!

Whatever your preference – ancient or modern-day birthstones, I do hope that you have a very happy birthday this March! x